


Little Miracles

by Bloody_Destination



Series: Dark Ace Series of Connected Drabbles [7]
Category: Storm Hawks (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, Original Storm Hawks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-12
Updated: 2019-08-12
Packaged: 2020-07-10 07:42:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19902202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bloody_Destination/pseuds/Bloody_Destination
Summary: The family becomes complete and Ace angsts about his place in said family.





	Little Miracles

It’s only been a month since Ace returned to Mimi’s home after the end of summer break, a week late and hell of catching up to do. He really hates this school but there isn’t anything he can do about it. He doesn’t mind the classes. What’s worrying him is that Mimi has been sick every single day for the past week and nothing Ace does seems to be helping.

She throws up constantly, every morning until noon without fail. She can’t stomach anything stronger than unseasoned eggs and oatmeal before the afternoon has passed, and she suddenly has chocolate covered pickles for two out of three meals a day. It isn’t healthy, he tells her, especially when she complains about her stomach hurting after engulfing a large quantity of her new favorite food. But it’s the only thing she can keep down before dinner and he can’t tell her no, so he doesn’t.

He insists on her going to the doctor, but every time she says they can’t do anything. It’s a fact of her frail body but Ace questions that and still insists. He finally gives her no other option. He sits on the couch, watches as she rushes to the bathroom for the third time that morning and says, in his most authoritative voice his nine year old self can muster.

“If you don’t go see a doctor today, then I’m dropping out of school.”

She’s only just coming out of the bathroom and her own voice takes on the same type of tone, with equally abysmal results at attaining such an authoritative tone, and says, “Now listen hear, mister…”

It’s ruined when she turns back around and throws up for the fourth time that morning.

“I’ll be in my room until you’ve seen a doctor.” He does just that and then peaks out of a crack in his door and watches as she stomps back out, glares at his door and then calls her doctor. She’s fit in that afternoon and only when he’s sure she’ll actually go does he get ready for school.

He’s too nervous to focus much on school though. His leg bounces constantly as he checks the clock, counting down until her appointment time and then when that comes, counting down to how long he thinks it might last, switches around the time as he switches between whether she’s going to die or if it’s just a cold. Then he counts down until school is finally over and he’s rushing from the school before the bell has even finished tolling and racing back home.

He nearly runs right into Mimi when he yanks the door open and rushes inside. He doesn’t even give her a chance to greet him as he starts shouting.

“How was it? Are you sick? Are you dying? You can’t die? What did they give you? It better be natural. I could probably make something better. Let me call Wing.”

She catches his arm before he has a chance to run off, gently pulls him to the couch without a word and wraps him in her arms as she pulls him against her. She rubs at his hair, brushing it away from his sweat slicked face from running home as fast as his short, stick legs could carry him.

“Ace.” She starts and theirs a tremor in her voice, like she’s trying not to cry, “I went to the doctor’s today.”

He already knows, but he lets her start her rambling because she sounds so small right now and he just wants her to talk because he knows it makes her feel better.

“He ran all these tests with little doohickies and a bunch of machines I’d never even heard of before. Nothings wrong, he said.” She hickuped and her hands encircled Ace’s shoulders, “Nothing was wrong at all. Unless I don’t plan on having a baby, that is.”

A happy little wet giggle slipped passed her lips, “A baby, Ace. Can you believe it? I’m pregnant. You’re going to be a big brother.”

Another giggle and then full-blown tears and awfully ugly crying as she held onto Ace like a life line. Ace stays perfectly still as the words repeat in his head.

_Pregnant._

_Baby._

_Big brother?_

_Baby?_

_Baby!?_

She called Lightning later on that night, while Ace is making dinner. He insists she shouldn’t be on her feet, especially with the nausea. They ugly cry together. While he can’t see Lightning, he can tell just by the sound that it’s ugly.

“Is Ace there?”

He says through the little coughing crying thing he does when he can’t control himself. It sounds more like wet slapping than a voice.

“Ace, you’re going to be a big brother!”

Those words again and Ace remains quiet.

“He’s just as shocked as we are!” She laughs, not understanding the silence for what it is.

_Big brother_.

But not really, because he isn’t their kid and they’ll be reminded of that when the baby finally comes, and Ace is just… _there_. They’ll forget he’s there. They’ll forget why he’s there. Would they abandon him? He doesn’t think so. The two are too kind, but the thought is still there, at the back of his mind. They keep on saying it, _big brother this_ and _big brother that_. But he’s not their son and he’s afraid because he knows it and they must know it too.

He was a replacement for something they couldn’t have and now they have it, are going to have it in exactly seven months and twenty-five days. Lightning promises to be there. He asks Ace to protect the woman he loves and the baby inside of her and Ace has no choice but to make that promise.

He promises to protect a child that isn’t even born yet. A child that is being given everything Ace has ever wished for. A child that is pushing Ace away from a family that is finally his to keep, but not really, because this isn’t his mother or father. He’s not a big brother, just a boy taken in by a couple who were grasping onto any hope or semblance of a child and Ace was broken enough to be fooled by it.

But he promises anyway, because he owes them for giving him at least this much. He lets her happily tug on him this way and that. Dreamily talking about names and colors. She bounces between fits of happy laughter and hysterical crying. What isn’t mentioned is the fact that there are only two bedrooms. One belongs to Ace and the other the happy couple expecting a child they never thought they’d have. Something is bound to give, and Ace knows that it’s going to be himself.

Ace gives everything of himself to helping Mimi through the pregnancy. Her health is going to suffer, already has because she’s noticeably gotten thinner, when she should be doing the opposite. She needs actual food, food that she can keep down.

Ace accompanies her to her next doctor’s appointment a week later. She argues he should be in school but all he has to do is threaten to drop out if he can’t come with her and she instantly gives in. It’s mostly himself and the doctor talking, about a healthy diet and bland enough food that won’t have her gagging that same instance. He talks about how to keep her health in check, if her pregnancy will cause her sickness to get worse. By the end, he has a booklet full of notes.

He lets her do little to nothing, after that. He keeps her out of the kitchen, off her feet, walks with her through the park to get sun. He buys her vitamins meant to keep the mother and baby healthy, then he buys more vitamins because she’s still losing weight, even a after a month since she’s stopped throwing up every meal.

By the third month of her pregnancy, she is already bed ridden with heavy iron deficiency and several other complications that have to do with her sickness interfering with her child’s growth. He is internally panicking every second he’s not asleep and he isn’t sleeping much. He’s up half the night, making sure she’s still breathing, listening for any slight noise of distress and only passing out after several nights of no sleep.

The house has become somber and far too quiet. Ace is used to coming home to music and a merry greeting. Now, when he returns from school or grocery shopping, the house is dark, and Mimi’s room is locked from the inside, refusing to see him. He knows she doesn’t mean to. She’s gotten so pale, even with the supplements and vitamins and Ace forcing her to eat a healthy diet. She’s hiding, afraid of Ace seeing her so sick.

And Ace is afraid. Mimi reminds him too much of his mother during their time on Terra Millus. She’d become a shell of what she used to be, could barely stand human contact and not even Ace could help her. It feels like he’s failing again.

Things take a turn for the better when, by the forth month, Mimi returns to her feet, still weak, but the change in diet and supplements have finally started to kick in. She’s still grey and pale, but her smile has returned. When Ace sees her like this, he can’t help but to sigh in relief.

It is also at this time that Mimi starts asking Aces opinion on colors and names and what type of crib would the baby like. She has Ace moving furniture around the master bedroom.

“The crib will go right here.” She points to the spot next to her side of the bed as she directs Ace to how big of a spot she wants.

“You’re going to put the baby in here?” He’d blurted out before being able to stop himself and then looks almost guilty.

She laughs at his blush, “Well, of course! I’m a heavy sleeper so I want the baby as close as possible. Besides, you have school in the morning and I can’t have them keeping you up all night.”

She laughs even more at the surprised look on his face completely missing just why he looks so startled, “Maybe when they’re older you guys can share a room.”

He ducks his face and feels his entire body burning. An overwhelming urge to cry makes itself known as he blinks back tears and furiously starts pushing furniture, nearly breaking the bed and then blushing even more when Mimi laughs. He still has a spot in the house, even if he has to share it and surprisingly, he doesn’t mind all that much about having to share in the future, or even right now.

On the fifth month, three weeks after Christmas, Lightning finally returns home. He looks exhausted, bandaged in four different places but with a smile on his face. He ruffles Ace’s hair then kneels down and cues to the baby bump, before finally standing, taking his fiancé into his arms. They stay like that for nearly five minutes before the three huddles into the small kitchen to start on a late-night dinner.

Ace skips school the next day, to both Mimi and Lightning’s chagrin. It seems the threat of dropping out completely works just as well on Lightning as it does on Mimi because as soon as it’s out of Ace’s mouth, Lightning clams up and accepts Ace’s company. He’s only staying until nightfall and it’ll be a guessing game on when the Storm Hawks will be back. The fighting is getting worse, with neither side any closer to winning.

Ace gives the two alone time a few hours before Lightning has to leave, instead heading to the Condor to see the others. He spends the night time hours with Joshi fixing up the Carrier after a grueling battle they’d just finished. She’s thankful for the extra help and the time spent with the half-Cyclonian.

Wing takes him flying after and they race against Nymbus with Mick trying to shoot at both skimmers just for the fun of it. When Lightning finally returns to the Condor, he sets his hand on Ace’s shoulder.

“I’m glad you’re here, Ace.” He says quietly, “I don’t think I would have been able to trust her with any one else. Take care of yourself, son.”

Ace can’t help it. He wraps himself around Lightning’s waist and he faintly hears Mick in the background ‘aw’ing like a child. Lightning doesn’t hesitate to return the gesture.

When he watches the ship take off, Ace finally feels like he’s found his family. He doesn’t have to keep searching for a woman that’s been missing for nearly three years. He no longer wants to keep waiting for a father who said he’d return nearly twice as long ago. He’s already found a family, and this is one he’s keeping. One that he is finally able to protect.

As the months speed by, Mimi finally has color again. She looks healthier than before the pregnancy and livelier, too. She goes through phases on a daily basis. She has Ace paint the master bedroom pink, stating: “It’ll definitely be a girl!” then that next day: “What was I thinking! Of course, it’ll be a boy!” and has him repaint the room a green color. It’s a back and forth struggle, one that Ace has to put up with.

“No, no!” She says after the second painting that day, two months from the due date, “What if she doesn’t like pink! Quick, get that purple color!”

He groans because the purple was used up three days ago, “I think the baby will like the turquoise.”

“What if she doesn’t?”

“I think they will. If not, they can change it when they’re older.” Or rather, just move rooms. In a few months, maybe a year, the baby will probably be moved into Ace’s room and then she and Lightning will have to deal with the color and there is no way in hell Ace is mentioning this because then she’ll start having him paint his room and he isn’t having pink as his room’s color, “Besides, it kinda looks like the Storm Hawks’ color. Maybe add some silver and-“

“No.” The tone of voice actually has Ace freezing in mid-sentence because he’s never heard her sound like this, “I already have to deal with you-…” She stops speaking, voice breaking on the last word, “I don’t want to picture one of you, let alone both as a Storm Hawks.”

Ace can’t bare to hear that tone of voice from her. It sounds too much like disappointment, so he lets the topic drop. They end up sticking with a lavender color only because they run out of paint after that and neither one goes back to the store to get more.

The house really isn’t that big, and it becomes obvious when every room begins to fill up with baby toys and clothes. Mimi has Ace baby proof the house which makes getting a plate almost worse than fighting a Talon. She puts baby gates at every door which Ace discovers one morning coming out of his room and then promptly tripping over the waist high plastic gate and falling flat on his face.

The baby is still a month away, he thinks in despair. It’ll only get worse. He hopes she won’t be this over protective for the kid’s entire life. He can barely deal with it now, when the thing is still attached to her.

It’s a week before the baby’s due date that Mimi’s water breaks and Ace doesn’t know how to handle it. He’s running back and forth, practically vibrating with fear, anxiety and trying to stuff baby clothes in the little pink diaper bag. Mimi watches him with amusement and barely concealed pain on her face.

“Calm down, Ace. It’s not like you’re the one having the baby.” She says with a laugh, “We only need one outfit. I like the grey one, with the bear on it.”

He brings an extra three outfits…just in case. The hospital is only a few minutes’ walk away, but Ace spends the entire walk trying to figure out if he’s strong enough to carry her. He’s not and she’s twice his size. She calls Lightning on the way and he’s loudly bawling his eyes out, saying he’s on his way back now. It’ll take him at least a day, maybe more considering how far out he is to get back.

The doctors won’t let him in the room. He tries to argue but they’re firm on the rules. They put him far enough away that he can’t hear anything that’s going on in the room, but he wants to be there. He saw the look on pain in her eyes but also the pure happiness as she told him it would be alright.

“You’ll get to be the first person to hold the baby.” She says, and he can’t help but nod and follow the nurse out of the room.

It’s early morning when someone comes for him. It’s been almost eight hours since she disappeared behind two different sets of doors and Ace is panicking. The nurse comes and brings him to the room. There in the bed is Mimi, covered in sweat, looking pale and tired. There are bags under her eyes but a smile that stretches further than Ace has ever seen it.

“Come here, Ace.” She says, adjusting the bundle in her arms, “Closer and put your arms like mine.”

He does as she tells him then all too soon, the bundle is in his hands and a pudgy face is looking at him. It’s ugly, he wants to say, with its squishy face and squinted eyes and all the little soggy wrinkles on it’s face. But he can’t get anything out because his face is covered in tears and he’s trying to stop snot from coming out of his nose and thinking he’s _really happy_. He doesn’t know why, but he’s the happiest he’s ever been, and nothing can ruin this moment.

It’s a boy, she tells him. He has green eyes. Not the moss color of his father, but more of an emerald. The small tuft of hair on his head is the exact shade of his Lightning’s though, but he looks like Mimi. The little curve of his nose and the ears that stick out a little too much. The shape of the face too is all Mimi. But he’s such an ugly baby.

It’s the next day, a few hours before they are ready to leave that the Storm Hawks finally arrive, all piling into the small hospital room with angry doctors and fretting nurses on their heels. They all get a chance to hold the baby before being kicked out of the building, except for Lightning and Ace.

“You’re late!” She yells when everyone but the four of them are left.

He vigorously shakes his head and whines back, “But the baby came early!”

“You missed your own son’s birth.” She really does sound angry, “You have a child now, Lightning. Are you really going to miss your own child growing up?”

Lightning sobers quickly, “Mimi…You know I want to stay. There’s nothing more I want than to be here, with you and Ace and the baby.”

“But the war is more important?”

“That isn’t what I said.”

Ace has never seen them fight before. Their voices are quiet, subdued more than usually. Not the angry yelling or heated words he’s used to seeing from others. But, to Ace, this is almost worse.

“I’m not talking about this in front of the kids.” Mimi ends the argument there.

The trip home is silent, even the following Storm Hawks can feel the tension. The group cue over the baby before the Storm Hawks head back to the Condor and Lightning asks Ace if he’d spend the night with them. It’s said in a way that doesn’t make it seem like the parents are about to have a long discussion, but Ace knows that is the exact reason why they want him out of the house for the night. He doesn’t want to see it, so he agrees before Lightning even has time to finish his excuse.

Lightning stays for a week and that is pushing it. The other Sky Knight teams wait only that long before finally calling the Storm Hawks back to the front lines. Mimi barely speaks to him when he finally says he has to leave. She tells him goodbye and then holes herself in the bedroom.

A sad pat on the head with a silent, “Be good.” Is Ace’s goodbye.

He comes back more often, though. He’s back only three weeks later, then a month after that. It’s already summer break but Ace doesn’t ask to rejoin the Condor and Lightning doesn’t offer. Every few weeks to a month, Lightning will reappear and each time, Ace is left behind. He’s kept busy with the baby anyway.

The baby is named Aerrow. They wanted to stick with an ‘A’ name, as well as something that has meaning.

“ _Of the sky_.” Lightning has said, “For the both of us.”

It’s the middle of Ace’s third year of school and little Aerrow has been with them for eight months. He’s sleeping through the night. It’s gotten easier, though also harder because he’s just starting to learn to crawl and thank any god that can hear him for the baby gates. He does in fact _not_ thank Mimi though because he falls over the gates at least once a week during particularly exhausting mornings.

Lightning has been at the house for a total of a day. The fighting is slowing down, mostly because the Sky Knights are actually banning together finally, working as a cohesive unit instead of individual, unaffiliated teams and it’s all thanks to Lightning. So, the leader of the Storm Hawks has an official three day leave and Ace finally plans to talk to him.

It’s over dinner on that first day that Ace says, “I’m dropping out of school.”

Lightning spits out a class of water, the baby laughs and Mimi trips over a baby toy.

“Now, Ace.” Lightning starts, “Whatever this is about-,”

“No, Lightning. I already made up my mind. I know what you want me to do. But I also know what I want to do.” He takes a deep breath and stares Lightning straight in the eyes, “I want to come with you. I don’t care if you keep me on the Condor, but I still want to come. I’m half Cyclonian, so should I, more than anyone, have the responsibility to clean up my people’s mess.”

“What about Mimi and Aerrow?”

“Aerrow doesn’t need so much attention anymore and besides, he’s getting bigger and he’ll need his own room.”

Lightning tries to make several other arguments, but Ace has been thinking about this for months now. Lightning begs and Ace reasons back, he threatens, and Ace threatens back. When he pleads, Ace looks on with little emotion, only resolve and a piercing gaze he’s been working on against the antagonistic students in his school.

“If you don’t take me then I’ll get there on my own.”

It takes Ace only that night to convince Lightning. It takes the entire rest of the two days to convince Mimi.

“You might as well have been his son with how similarly stubborn you both are.” She says as she stands at the door. Lightning looks like he’s been lectured at for the entire night about what Ace can and can’t do and how he needs to actually treat Ace like the growing child he is, what foods are healthy and not just junk food.

She hugs Lightning first, then turns to Ace, kneels till they are eye level and pulls him against her. She kisses his forehead, both cheeks the top of his head and then repeats.

“Both of you, be safe. I love you.” Is the last thing she says before they leave the house. Lightning pulls Ace against him with a hand around his shoulders.

“Don’t tell your mother.” He whispers when they finally round the corner with a sad smile on his face, as if he knows he shouldn’t be saying it, “But I’m glad your coming with. I really did miss you as my co-pilot.”


End file.
